Philippe Calia (b.1985, Paris) is an artist, photographer and filmmaker, currently based in Bangalore, India.
BIO
It is in 2006, during his training years in social sciences, that Calia first moved to India as an exchange-program student. Back in Europe a year later, he specialised on the region during a research Master in Comparative Politics in Paris, followed by an M.A in Photographic Studies in London. Finally settling in Mumbai in 2011, he started developing a long-term/documentary approach to his work.
Today he sees his practice as gravitating mostly around two poles : the urban experience and the notion of memory. Often manoeuvring at the intersection of the still and moving image, as well as figuration and abstraction, his works tend to incorporate discarded documents and mundane visual material through gestures of quotation, collage or erasure. Manners of perceiving, preserving and commemorating are always central to his approach.
Calia's work has received several awards and has been exhibited in various museums, galleries and festivals across Europe and Asia. His first solo Show, Lethe, was held in 2022 at TARQ, Mumbai. In 2023, he was selected as one of the ten artists for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award. His photo and video works have been featured in publications such as The New Yorker, Le Monde, Art India or The Indian Quarterly.
Since 2013, Calia has also been collaborating as a photo editor with PIX, a publication for photography and new media in South Asia. Between 2015 and 2020, he co-directed BIND, a platform for photobooks in India with a public library.
In parallel to his practice, Calia runs a creative studio specialised in the documentation of art and cultural projects.
CV
HONORS & AWARDS
Laureate, Alkazi Photobook Grant (2023)
Laureate, Support for Documentary Photography, CNAP (2023)
Finalist, Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2023)
Runner Up, Alkazi Photobook Grant (2022)
Honorable Mention, Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize (2020)
Finalist, Prix de la Fondation Jean-Luc Lagardère (photographie) (2020)
Laureate, “Writing and Emerging Forms” Grant - Civil Society of Multimedia's Authors, Paris (2020)
Laureate, Visual Arts Commission - Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2019)
International Artist Residency, What About Art?, Mumbai, (2016)
EXHIBITIONS
Laureate, Alkazi Photobook Grant (2023)
Laureate, Support for Documentary Photography, CNAP (2023)
Finalist, Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2023)
Runner Up, Alkazi Photobook Grant (2022)
Honorable Mention, Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize (2020)
Finalist, Prix de la Fondation Jean-Luc Lagardère (photographie) (2020)
Laureate, “Writing and Emerging Forms” Grant - Civil Society of Multimedia's Authors, Paris (2020)
Laureate, Visual Arts Commission - Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2019)
International Artist Residency, What About Art?, Mumbai, (2016)
EXHIBITIONS
solo
The Second Law, TARQ, Mumbai (2025)
Lethe, TARQ, Mumbai (2022)
group
"A Haptic Score", Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa (2024)
"Overlaps", TARQ, Mumbai (2024)
“Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences”,Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany (2023)
"Moving Definitions : An Invitation to Re-View", Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles, Arles (2023)
"Ephemeroptera : Time After Time", TARQ, Mumbai (2023)
"SHOW", Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore (2023)
“Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences”, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2023)
“This Ground, Plus : Kotachiwadi in Design Context”, 47-A Design Gallery, Mumbai (2022)
“Event, Memory, Metaphor”, TARQ, Mumbai (2022)
“Unsealed Chamber", Romain Rolland Gallery, New Delhi, India (2021)
“Indian contemporary Photography 1; confinement”, UP Gallery, Hsinchu City, Taïwan (2021)
“Indian Cities in Photography”, ENSA Paris-Malaquais, Paris (2018)
"Abandon", 24 Jor Bagh, New Delhi (2015)
“I Get By”, Diesel Gallery, Mumbai (2012)
“Light Sensitive”, P3 Gallery, London (2010)
collaborative
Afterlife in "A Myth of Two Souls by Vasantha Yogananthan", Chanel Nexus Hall, Tokyo (2019)
Afterlife in "A Myth of Two Souls by Vasantha Yogananthan", Musée de L'Elysée, Lausanne (2019)
festival
The Ajaib Ghar Archive in Jimei X Arles 2023, Xiamen, China (2023)
Heptanesia in "Illusions between the Sea and the City", MUAF, Mumbai (2023)
A Visitor’s Book in SIPF, Singapore (2022)
Afterlife in SIPF, Singapore (2020)
If The House (WIP) in Influences Indiennes, Beaucouzé, France (2018)
The Bodyguard Lane Album in Focus Festival, Mumbai (2017)
Post. in Delhi Photo Festival, Delhi (2013)
A Summer In Shahpurjat, Printer's Devil in Delhi Photo Festival, Delhi (2013)
Post. in "Short Film Screenings", Belfast Photography Festival, Belfast (2012)
Post. in “Film by Photographers”, Photomonth East London, The Rich Mix, London (2012)
Post. in “Anti-Clocks”, Maara Public Space Arts Festival, Bangalore (2012)
Post. in Open Show, Bangalore (2012)
Light Minutes in “Locating the Sacred”, SLPS Judson Memorial Church, New York (2012)
Light Minutes in “Photo-Open”, The Rich Mix, London (2011)
Light Minutes in “Photo-Open”, Old Truman Brewery, London (2011)
WRITINGS
The Second Law, TARQ, Mumbai (2025)
Lethe, TARQ, Mumbai (2022)
group
"A Haptic Score", Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa (2024)
"Overlaps", TARQ, Mumbai (2024)
“Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences”,Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany (2023)
"Moving Definitions : An Invitation to Re-View", Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles, Arles (2023)
"Ephemeroptera : Time After Time", TARQ, Mumbai (2023)
"SHOW", Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore (2023)
“Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences”, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2023)
“This Ground, Plus : Kotachiwadi in Design Context”, 47-A Design Gallery, Mumbai (2022)
“Event, Memory, Metaphor”, TARQ, Mumbai (2022)
“Unsealed Chamber", Romain Rolland Gallery, New Delhi, India (2021)
“Indian contemporary Photography 1; confinement”, UP Gallery, Hsinchu City, Taïwan (2021)
“Indian Cities in Photography”, ENSA Paris-Malaquais, Paris (2018)
"Abandon", 24 Jor Bagh, New Delhi (2015)
“I Get By”, Diesel Gallery, Mumbai (2012)
“Light Sensitive”, P3 Gallery, London (2010)
collaborative
Afterlife in "A Myth of Two Souls by Vasantha Yogananthan", Chanel Nexus Hall, Tokyo (2019)
Afterlife in "A Myth of Two Souls by Vasantha Yogananthan", Musée de L'Elysée, Lausanne (2019)
festival
The Ajaib Ghar Archive in Jimei X Arles 2023, Xiamen, China (2023)
Heptanesia in "Illusions between the Sea and the City", MUAF, Mumbai (2023)
A Visitor’s Book in SIPF, Singapore (2022)
Afterlife in SIPF, Singapore (2020)
If The House (WIP) in Influences Indiennes, Beaucouzé, France (2018)
The Bodyguard Lane Album in Focus Festival, Mumbai (2017)
Post. in Delhi Photo Festival, Delhi (2013)
A Summer In Shahpurjat, Printer's Devil in Delhi Photo Festival, Delhi (2013)
Post. in "Short Film Screenings", Belfast Photography Festival, Belfast (2012)
Post. in “Film by Photographers”, Photomonth East London, The Rich Mix, London (2012)
Post. in “Anti-Clocks”, Maara Public Space Arts Festival, Bangalore (2012)
Post. in Open Show, Bangalore (2012)
Light Minutes in “Locating the Sacred”, SLPS Judson Memorial Church, New York (2012)
Light Minutes in “Photo-Open”, The Rich Mix, London (2011)
Light Minutes in “Photo-Open”, Old Truman Brewery, London (2011)
WRITINGS
“The School, the Museum, the Library” in The Student Issue, PIX vol.15 (2018)
"Celestial Bodies" in Take On Art, E-Zine (2017)
"Decisive Arrangements" in Surge, PIX vol.11 (2015)
"Photograph(er)'s Habitat” in Habitat, PIX vol.10 (2014)
"Embodiments of Resistance” in Habitat, PIX vol.9 (2013)
“Representing the Other today: contemporary photography in the light of the post-colonial debate (with a special focus on India)”, Revista Forma, Vol. 04 (2011)
EDUCATION
"Celestial Bodies" in Take On Art, E-Zine (2017)
"Decisive Arrangements" in Surge, PIX vol.11 (2015)
"Photograph(er)'s Habitat” in Habitat, PIX vol.10 (2014)
"Embodiments of Resistance” in Habitat, PIX vol.9 (2013)
“Representing the Other today: contemporary photography in the light of the post-colonial debate (with a special focus on India)”, Revista Forma, Vol. 04 (2011)
EDUCATION
M.A Photographic Studies, University of Westminster, London, U.K (2009-10)
Research Master in Comparative Politics, ‘Asian studies', Sciences-Po, Paris, France (2007-09)
PG. Diploma in Journalism, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia, New Delhi, India (2006-07)
B.A Political Sciences, Sciences-Po, Paris, France (2004-06)
Research Master in Comparative Politics, ‘Asian studies', Sciences-Po, Paris, France (2007-09)
PG. Diploma in Journalism, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia, New Delhi, India (2006-07)
B.A Political Sciences, Sciences-Po, Paris, France (2004-06)